CLARTS and Landfills

WHAT IS CLARTS?

A transfer station in waste terminology is a location that facilitates the transport of refuse (trash disposed of in the black bins). Our transfer station serves to temporarily store refuse collected throughout the City before a larger truck is ready to pick it up and transport it for the long haul to the nearest landfill. As the City's own landfills are all closed, the destinations are private landfills. In 2004, the City of Los Angeles purchased Central L.A. Recycling & Transfer Station (CLARTS). As the recycling operations that were previously done at the facility have ceased, the City continues to operate the facility as a transfer station. Learn more about transfer stations and their operations.

WHAT IS A LANDFILL?

There are a variety of ways to deal with increasing amounts of waste disposal such as:

Landfilling

Waste transformation

Recycling

Waste reduction at the source

Landfills are the main solution for controlling the massive amounts of waste disposed of by the residents of the City of Los Angeles.

A landfill is a very carefully designed and managed structure for final disposal of waste. The waste material is placed in earthen cells where it is isolated from the environment (groundwater, rain, air and animals) with a bottom liner and a top covering of soil. Landfills follow proper recycling and disposal regulations.

The following are five landfills owned and maintained by the City of Los Angeles. They are all currently non-operational and are in the process of being closed or have already undergone closure. Provided in these pages are fact sheets and pictures of the landfills, including directions on how to get there. However, not all landfill sites are publicly accessible.

Lopez Canyon Landfill closure construction is completed. The site has been converted into an Environmental and Educational Center, as well as a Gas Utilization Project. Potential future uses include a community recreation area. More about Lopez Canyon Landfill